Done with human society, Erin escapes into a border rainforest as a ranger, and stumbles into a nonhuman dimension, where ancient serpent Marius keeps saving her life. She thinks he's just some backwoods healer, until she realizes he's the black python that coils around her, tastes her skin, and tangles with her in her dreams. Marius reins in his beast instincts, testing every step, learning to love her by human rules. Erin goes from terrified to hooked, from taking it to taking what she wants. When she accidentally absorbs a mountain spirit's core, she becomes a live target for black-market hunters. Marius slips into her dreams to wake her; together they tear down the poaching ring. In the end, Erin awakens her powers, guards the gateway to the forbidden world beside her serpent lover, becoming a groundbreaking scholar and the serpent clan's lady.
